Pumpkin pasta
Think Pumpkin Spice Latte, but in a pasta version.
I’m not one for autumn spiced beverages, but you can bet I’ll eat anything pumpkin once the season comes: I love decorating the home with pumpkin of any size, that I’ll just grab and roast whenever I feel like it.
I’m a sucker for carbs so obviously I just had to come up with a pumpkin version of the cavolo nero pasta: this version includes crispy sausage for an extra touch, but you can very easily make it vegetarian or vegan, the protagonist after all is the squash and it’s literally all you need.
For this recipe I would recommend using a butternut squash: it’s very sweet and not too liquid, which gives the pasta an amazing creamy consistency even without adding any cream.
Ingredients
Serves: 4 portions
Prepping time: 30 min
Cooking time: 15 min
400g pasta (I used fusilli)
1 butternut squash
100g sausage, crumbled
50g Parmesan
Preparation
Roast the pumpkin in the oven until tender, I usually leave it in for about 30 min at 200 degrees. It’s important to roast it and not boil it, since the pumpkin already contains a lot of liquid.
Once it’s tender enough (you need to be able to cut it very easily), blend the pulp with some salt and pepper, add a tablespoon of water if needed. You’re looking for a dense, creamy consistency.
Cook the pasta until at dente
While the pasta cooks, place the crumbled sausage in a pan and let it cook until crispy. You can add the fat released to your pumpkin puree, discard it if you’re looking for a lighter/healthier dish.
Drain your pasta when very al dente, roughly 3 min before the cooking time indicated on the package.
In a separate pan warm up the pumpkin puree: add the strained pasta and some cooking water to make it more creamy. Cook it like so until al dente, then add the parmesan and mix.
Serve with the crispy sausage sprinkled on top!
